Another short story from the Orbit Short Fiction line. As with so many of these titles, Orbit haven't yet bothered to make this one available to UK readers – luckily there are always ways around that. Whereas [b:The Butcher of Anderson Station|11570653|The Butcher of Anderson Station (Expanse 0.5)|James S.A. Corey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316999513s/11570653.jpg|16511459] was explaining a part of the back story to [b:Leviathan Wakes|11570641|Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1)|James S.A. Corey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328342789s/11570641.jpg|13730452]; [b:Gods of Risk|15837317|Gods of Risk|James S.A. Corey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1345774827s/15837317.jpg|21510740] is almost totally unrelated to the larger story arcs. Instead we are treated to the tale of Bobbie's, somewhat annoying, nephew. Set on Mars after the events of [b:Caliban's War|12964289|Caliban's War (Expanse, #2)|James S.A. Corey|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328321687s/12964289.jpg|17606541], Bobbie has been put on medical leave – although that appears to be an excuse to just sideline her. She sits home every day, watching the news and working out, while her nephew works his way through his college final labs, makes drugs on the side for the local dealer, and spends his remaining free time resenting his family.

While Bobbie barely moves from the family apartment for most of the book, she somehow still manages to be a central character through the story. Not so much by what she does, but through her nephew's obsession with this interloper into his family unit. The story explores some of the dynamics of a Mars Marine returning home after effectively working for the other side, but that's really only the secondary story here. The main story is the nephew's growth, with Bobbie's help, from selfish, irritating, teenager to try and save the life of a girl he liked (no matter how doomed that would ultimately be). Lots of the references will only make sense to people who've read Leviathan Wakes, and the story probably isn't going to be an urgent purchase for anybody not already reading the Expanse series – though if you aren't, why aren't you?